The clearing around the chapel felt strangely silent. David scanned the area, ready for the creature to reappear. All he heard was a branch fall from the tree that the altar had impacted.

  He grunted, the various wounds he'd sustained making themselves known now that his attention wasn't occupied by whatever the creature had been. Probably an incarnation of some sort.

  He made his way towards Niala, a slight limp to his step. She watched him approach silently, concern passing through her eyes.

  “Are you ok?” He asked.

  She nodded. “I'll be fine. Are you...?”

  He tried to shrug, but the movement made him wince. “...I'll survive.” He looked past Niala, into the chapel, to the hole where the altar used to be.

  “I'm really curious how you did that, but first, why did you do that?” He asked.

  The question jolted her. “Oh! Yes the... I remembered something from when I was... walking here.”

  She made her way to the centre of the chapel. He followed, still wary that the creature might attack at any time.

  Below the altar had been a small chamber, a few meters to a side and maybe one meter deep. Within it, at the centre, was a small round stone orb, maybe six inches across, heavy with Tikitoan script.

  Inert stone that it was, it felt... ominous.

  Niala quietly pointed to it. “Underneath the altar... is a beast. That's how I remember it.”

  David rumbled. “The creature also kept referring to a beast. It kept saying a guardian was needed, or rather a sacrifice.” He walked up to the edge and lowered himself into the chamber, inspecting the stone sphere.

  “If this is the beast, or whatever is containing the beast, then it's probably the cause of everything.” He posited.

  “Do you remember anything else?” He asked, looking up at Niala.

  “Nothing... relevant. I'm not sure what to do.” She said.

  “You and me bo-”

  The sphere shifted.

  Then came to a stop.

  Both of their gaze were glued to it.

  “It just moved on its own, right?” David asked.

  “Uh-huh...” Niala slowly confirmed.

  It shifted again, a bit more forcefully.

  “Bleeding pits.” David cursed as he opened his pouch and retrieved his Courier gear cargo-cloth.

  Niala kept her gaze on the sphere. She thought she could see some light grey haze evaporating from its surface. The sphere slightly rolled.

  David snatched what appeared to be a handbag handle from his random courier junk, re-packing the rest of it and approaching the sphere.

  It rolled again, a slight crack forming across its surface, a puff of blackish vapour escaping through it.

  David jammed the handles' prongs at the sphere. A semi-opaque bubble of green slowly enveloped the sphere, turning it back inert.

  David's jaw unclenched.

  “What is that? What did it do?” Niala asked.

  “The Travelling Maiden's All-Purpose Handbag. It puts whatever it's attached to into stasis for as long as you can feed it mana. The bigger the object, or the more powerful it is, the more mana it needs.” David quickly explained, before cursing.

  “What is it?” Niala asked, worried.

  “This thing is draining the handle's mana way too fast. I don't have nearly enough mana pellets to keep it powered until we get back to town. Even then, we'll have to deal with the actual thing inside. We'll need to find something to keep it contained, or maybe someone. I don't think there's anything like that in Riverwall...” He said with mounting dread.

  “We might just have t....” He trailed off as he looked up at Niala, who was intently staring at him.

  “What is it?” He asked.

  “I trust you. Do you trust me?” She asked, cryptic.

  He looked down at the rapidly depleting handle, back up to Niala. “Sure.”

  “Even if I'm going to sound insane, will you do what I tell you to?” She pushed.

  “What? Yes. What is this about? We need to hurry up if we're going to run away!” He urged.

  “Get the handle, handbag thing, give it to me.”

  He furrowed his brow but did as she asked, retrieving the heavier-than-expected stone sphere by the handle and handing it to her.

  She grunted as she pulled it up with both hands.

  “Now pick me up and carry me to Hodge.” She told him.

  He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. Completely puzzled, he got out of the pit and picked up Niala in a princess carry.

  “You're sure about this?” He asked.

  “No, but I think it's our best bet.” She said, head pressed against his chest, arms cradling the sphere.

  He tersely nodded as he willed his mana back out into his enchantments, through his aching limbs. He glowed blue and started back towards Riverwall.

  He felt as if he should be at least somewhat worried that the handbag stasis would fail mid-way through the trip, or that they were bringing back to town something the creature he'd fought to a standstill had been afraid of.

  But he found he had a surprising amount of faith in Niala's judgement.

  So he shut down his brain, and he ran.

  The bear had been waiting for them at the menhir's edge, growling and pacing along the barrier. When David passed it by, it chased after them.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  He felt that he'd be able to leave it in the dust any other day, but all the wounds he had sustained slowed him down enough for the bear to keep up with them.

  And so their race back to town was punctuated by roars and the splintering of wood as the bear rampaged through anything in its path.

  As David did his best to ignore his pain, he glanced at the mana indicator on the handle, which he expected to be nearly depleted. It wasn't. The little gauge was near full.

  He sent a glance at Niala, who kept her attention on the sphere. No answers there, not now anyway. With the immediate threat inexplicably handled, his only task was to get back to town safely.

  And to try and ignore the bear that wouldn't shut up behind him.

  The wind around the chapel picked up. A slight breeze, gaining strength, turning violent, as it coalesced into a ball of raging storm.

  From it, twister-like funnels sprang out, forming into thin and long limbs ending in hands and feet of jagged glass.

  A head reared up from the sphere, screaming a song of shattering crystals.

  The creature's eyes popped open, full of violence.

  The winds calmed down as it started walking towards the chapel, towards the altar.

  It saw the hole. It didn't see the stone sphere.

  A gale buffeted the chapel, bones erupting in a pallid tornado.

  A shriek of breaking glass rang out. A blur of grey light shot through the tornado to the south.

  Towards the beast it was supposed to contain. Towards the beast that had been taken.

  David breathed through clenched teeth. His legs were cramping up, he could barely feel his arms, his vision swam. Had he made a wrong turn? Was he headed towards the town gate? Could that pit-bound bear please tire and get lost?

  “You can do it.” A calm, gentle voice said.

  David looked down at Niala. She was staring back at him. He saw no traces of doubt in her eyes.

  He pushed against the pain and kept running.

  Finally, the most beautiful, grand, prestigious town gates revealed themselves as David ran around a copse of trees. He let his momentum carry him forward, across the bridge and to the doorway he'd crashed through several bells earlier.

  A few guards were there, milling around, trying to reattach the door. One of them spotted David and motioned to the others, who looked his way. Then they heard the bear roar and stiffened.

  And then the bear rounded the copse as well, a wagon-sized mass of enraged muscles barrelling towards the gate. The guards shouted and pointed, some bracing their spears, others dropping their weapons and running inside.

  David ignored them. He could barely think. There was an open door in front of him that he was going through. That was the extent of planning his mind could handle right now.

  He ran forward, through the guards, shoving aside one that was trying to step through, and finally, he was inside the walls. His steps slowed down, he hunched back and gulped air.

  But he didn't stop.

  He stammered forward with halting steps, towards Hodge's home. As the sensation of passing out slowly receded, as his body regained some sense, he took faster steps. Then a bit faster still. Soon he was jogging, ever forward, toward the solution.

  He had lost track of time, of distance. Niala just existed within his arms. The line he was following to his destination was the only thing on his mind.

  Then he realized he had stopped. Why had he stopped? He blinked.

  Oh. They were here. Hodge's home.

  He grunted as he let Niala down. His arms had locked up. He looked up at Niala like a beaten dog. Did she need him for something more? He'd try, he just wasn't sure he had much more to give.

  She smiled. “It's ok David, I think I can handle the rest. Thank you.”

  He managed to nod and stay standing.

  Niala, still cradling the stone sphere, walked up to Hodge's door and banged on it.

  Nothing.

  Niala hammered at the door. “Hodge! I know you're there! It's urgent, open up!” She yelled.

  She heard muffled shouts from within. The door soon cracked open.

  “What in the blood pits do you want with Hodge at this saint's forsaken hour, girl?!” The dishevelled, patched pajama-wearing old man shouted.

  “I want to make a deal.” Niala said.

  Hodge stopped. He squinted, observing Niala up and down. He leaned forward.

  “What kind of deal?”

  Niala held up the stone sphere.

  “You add this to your pile, keep it under control. In exchange, for as long as I am able to, I will brew you one potion a year, of your choosing, granted that I can gather the ingredients, worth no more than one prince according to the alchemist's guild price charts.” She stated.

  Hodge kept eyeing her, before his frown turned into a wide, half-toothed smile.

  “I'll want to know how you figured it out, lass, but very well.”

  He held out a wrinkly hand. Niala deposited the stone sphere on it. Hodge's hand didn't even acknowledge the weight.

  David, looking in on the scene, had given up trying to understand. Niala seemed to have things in hand. In his current state, that was entirely more than sufficient.

  Hodge bounced the sphere in his hand a few times. “I'm guessing you'll want to keep this gadget stuck to it?”

  Niala nodded. “Yes please.”

  “Very well” He said, yanking the handbag handle off of the sphere and tossed to Niala.

  Immediately, the stone sphere began to buckle and hiss in Hodge's hand.

  “Don't be so ornery! I'm sure you'll enjoy your time in my pile! It's a great pile! You might even make a few friends in there!” Hodge told the sphere as he walked to the room where his pile was stored. Niala and David followed.

  The door opened by itself when he approached. The objects within shifted until a sphere-sized hole appeared. Hodge lobbed the sphere through it, smiling as he did so. The sphere was engulfed by the objects as they shifted back to once again form a solid wall, the door slamming shut once everything had settled.

  Hodge turned to face Niala.

  “A deal has been said and done then!” He declared. “First potion I want is a slick skin transmutation.”

  Niala almost contained her shock. “I... I'll get it done.”

  Hodge beamed. “Great! I'm so tired of this dried-out husk of a skin! I need hydration! Now...” He leaned toward Niala. “How did you figure it out?”

  “Figure what out? What just happened?” David slurred.

  Hodge quirked an eyebrow. “How did she figure out what I was.”

  “A weird old man past his date?”

  “That is very insulting you know?” Hodge told David, who didn't quite understand what he'd just said.

  Niala put a hand on his arm. “Hodge is an incarnation. A devil I think.”

  He snapped his head towards Hodge, hand on his sword's pommel.

  “Oh oh oh! Still have a fight in you? You look deader than I do!” Hodge teased. “Stand down, boy, and get your hand off that metal stick. Old Hodge isn't going to hurt anyone.”

  David kept eyeing him, but slowly relaxed.

  “That's better. Now, I'm sure you have a lot of annoying questions but it is way too early to do anything but sleep, so please leave.” Hodge said.

  David and Niala shared a look, both shrugging, and made their way outside, followed by Hodge.

  A gust of wind met them as they passed the door. The sound of scratching glass assaulted their ears. David pushed past Niala, unsheathing his sword and interposing himself in front of her.

  From the sky a blade of grey wind slammed on the pavement, gouging the rocks and kicking up a small cloud of dust. From within the creature marched out, pointing at David and Niala.

  “Return the beast! Return my ward!” It shrieked.

  David, fighting through his exhaustion, willed his mana back to his brutalized limbs. Just as he began glowing blue, he felt an old, calloused hand on his shoulder.

  “No fighting at Hodge's house.” Hodge warned, walking out and towards the creature.

  “Hoi, windy, the puppy's mine now.” He told it.

  “I am Anaakendi! The first and last guardian! Return the beast to my ward!” The creature, Anaakendi, wailed.

  Hodge jammed his pinky into his ear. “Lady your voice is scrapping my rotted brain. If you want the pup back you'll need to offer me a deal for it.” He said.

  “Anaakendi does not deal!” The creature stepped forward and swung a clawed hand at Hodge.

  Hodge stood, watching the claw approach his head.

  From behind Niala a cacophonous grinding erupted. A giant hand made of...stuff burst through the doorway, grasping the creature's arm.

  Anaakendi screamed in anger and pulled back on its arm. Which didn't budge. She pulled again to the same result.

  The stuff-arm, made of furniture, cookware, clothes, toys, building supplies and anything and everything jerked back, pulling Annakendi forward a step.

  “Wait!” She shrieked.

  Hodge smiled like a half-toothed shark.

  The stuff-arm rumbled back into Hodge's home, pulling a panicking and shrieking Anaakendi with it. From within Hodge's home, a door was heard slamming shut.

  Hodge turned to the two dumbstruck people behind him.

  “I'll give her a time-out. She can come out once she calms down.” He winked and trundled back inside, shutting the door behind him.

  Niala and David looked at each other.

  “If you don't talk about it, I won't.” Niala said.

  David nodded.

  They started walking home. David stumbled.

  Niala pulled up to him, offering her shoulders.

  David leaned on her.

  They walked home, together.

  pile?